Major League Baseball: 2019 Season

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JohnBM01

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After the Boston Red Sox were done obliterating their opposition (including my defending champion Houston Astros), the Red Sox reached the summit of Major League Baseball, hoisting the Commissioner's Trophy for the world to see. It is now time again for the other 29 teams to try to take down the Boston Red Sox and show THEY are the kings of Major League Baseball.

The season doesn't start until Spring Training in March. Still, there is plenty of time to discuss various roster moves, trades, money offers, and things of that nature. Hot stove! So we can talk about all the goings on in baseball. This thread covers all aspects of Major League Baseball from all the trade talk and news, all the way to the postseason awards.


If you need a reminder of how the regular season ended up, here is a look to help you know what each team had to deal with:

(LEGEND: Bold teams were playoff teams at the end of the 2018 Regular Season)

--- AMERICAN LEAGUE (End of 2018 Regular Season) ---
AL EAST: Boston (108-54), NYY (100-62), TB (90-72), TOR (73-89), BAL (47-115)
AL CENTRAL: Cleveland (91-71), MIN (78-84), DET (64-98), CHW (62-100), KC (58-104)
AL WEST: Houston (103-59), OAK (97-65), SEA (89-73), LAA (80-82), TEX (67-95)

--- NATIONAL LEAGUE (End of 2018 Regular Season) ---
NL EAST: Atlanta (90-72), WAS (82-80), PHI (80-82), NYM (77-85), MIA (63-98)
NL CENTRAL: Milwaukee (96-67), CHC (95-68), STL (88-74), PIT (82-79), CIN (67-95)
NL WEST: Colorado and Los Angeles Dodgers (91-71 each), ARI (82-80), SF (73-89), SD (66-96)

Which of these teams will improve? Which teams could possibly falter? Spring Training, a 162-game season, and plenty of postseason play will determine who all will become champions this 2019 season. The Boys of Summer will be ready to rock once the season gets going.


As always, good luck to all of your favorite teams this upcoming season. That even includes the occasional GTPlanet inner-forum rivalries (for example: Barra333's Toronto Blue Jays vs. Ken's New York Yankees). Let's talk Major League Baseball for 2019!
 
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Paul Goldschmidt is going from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the St. Louis Cardinals. I think Goldy spent his whole career (or most of it) with the D-Backs. Now, he'll be rocking Cardinals colors. Arizona will get in return Carson Kelly, Luke Weaver, Andy Young, and a Round B draft pick.

St. Louis fans... how does it feel that you landed Paul Goldschmidt?
 
Paul Goldschmidt is going from the Arizona Diamondbacks to the St. Louis Cardinals. I think Goldy spent his whole career (or most of it) with the D-Backs. Now, he'll be rocking Cardinals colors. Arizona will get in return Carson Kelly, Luke Weaver, Andy Young, and a Round B draft pick.

St. Louis fans... how does it feel that you landed Paul Goldschmidt?
I was ready to post about this in here...

We are excited to say the least. Some are saying he is the closest to Pujols we will have had to this point.

St Louis would die for Harper. That's been in the talks A LOT. Nothing to come of that yet and even more unlikely now in my opinion with having Paulie G. He absolutely rakes against the Cubs at Wrigley and same for Miller Park and the Brewers. That's a bonus. Good numbers at Busch as well, against the Cardinals anyways.

We need a decent RF players. Jose isn't cutting the mustard let alone any of the other condiments. He had a decent hitting performance two or three times last season but the rest was inconsistent.

Just hoping for the best. Loved baseball as a kid. Got into pretty deep last season, hoping to do the same this season and for many more to come. St. Louis is a baseball town regardless of whether or not you keep up with or even understand the game. I live in Illinois and we damn near canceled classes at school to watch or listen to games in class as a child. People who don't follow the team has a t-shirt or a hat supporting the team. And they always ask how the team is doing when they see somebody who does follow them. Cardinals have the best fan base in baseball hands down.
 
My condolences go out in loving memory of former Astros Luis Valbuena and José Castillo, both killed in a car crash in Venezuela recently.
 
My condolences go out in loving memory of former Astros Luis Valbuena and José Castillo, both killed in a car crash in Venezuela recently.

So many deaths in Latin America due to car crashes, I was involved in a serious rear end crash in Mexico when I was 9, thank god the bus that hit our VW was already braking or we would have gotten ran over.
 
The Houston Astros let go of pitcher Charlie Morton to the Tampa Bay Rays last week or so. Recently, we picked up free agent Michael Brantley from the Cleveland Indians. Morton was instrumental in pitching his way to the Houston Astros winning Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. So the Rays are going to have some star power in their pitching rotation.


[UPDATE] Oops! I accidentally called him "Moron," instead of "Morton!" Missing a letter can be damaging! Changes made.
 
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Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, and Alex Wood are going from the Los Angeles Dodgers and are heading to the Cincinnati Reds. The Los Angeles Dodgers will get in return pitcher Homer Bailey and prospects. Maybe this will help out the Reds a bit.
 
Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, and Alex Wood are going from the Los Angeles Dodgers and are heading to the Cincinnati Reds. The Los Angeles Dodgers will get in return pitcher Homer Bailey and prospects. Maybe this will help out the Reds a bit.
Refreshing as a Reds' fan. Homer and his contract is finally gone, AND we get a good pitcher in return along with cash! And with Billy Hamilton (and admittedly his amazing speed and defense) gone, we get two well known outfielders who can actually hit the ball! The Reds haven't made a move like this in some time.
 
I hear the Cincinnati Reds' play-by-play announcer Marty Brennaman will retire after this season. I wish him the best in his retirement once this season conclues.

I really think the NL Central is going to be very competitive this upcoming season. Usually, the division seems to have the most parity is usually the NL West. I think the addition of players like Yasiel Puig going from the Dodgers to the Reds and even Paul Goldschmidt going from Arizona to St. Louis could be the catalyst to improving the Reds. But any time I think of the NL Central, I usually fear St. Louis. But these days, it's mostly the Cubs and the Brewers racking each others' brains mostly in the National League. My only uncertainty of the NL Central is Pittsburgh.

I guess I'll pop in here with some notes on my Astros. Only thing I've heard lately is that Alex Bregman had some surgery on his elbow and should be able to play by Spring Training, if not the regular season. According to Caesars' Sportsbook, they are predicting the Houston Astros will win about 97.5 games this upcoming season. We got dominated by Boston in the ALCS last year. I can only hope the Astros can keep up their solid form and maybe win their second-ever World Series.


So what's good with your team(s)? :)


[UPDATE] I forgot Goldy went to the St. Louis Cardinals. Changes made.
 
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Goldy went to the Cards.

I do like what the Reds have done this off season, compared to what they usually do. You know...nothing. They are looking at a trade to get starter Sonny Gray from the Yankees too. I'm not so sure we need him to be honest. The starting 4 in the rotation are likely to be Wood, Roark, DeSclafani and Castillo (not necessarily in that order). That leaves only one spot open for one of the younger players to assert himself. If Gray comes aboard, that leaves no room for any of them, forcing them to fight for spots in the bullpen instead. We'd be giving up a couple of prospects as well. The other worrisome thing is the fact that so many of these pickups are under control for this season only. A couple of them may stick around, but certainly not all of them.

As for Marty, it stinks to hear he's hanging it up at the end of the season. He's been calling Reds' games for 46 years. Hopefully he enjoys retirement.
 
Forgot to post it yesterday, but the Reds did indeed get Gray from the Yankees. In return, NY received second base prospect Shed Long and a compensation pick. The good news (IF he pitches well) is that Gray signed for an additional 3 years. So unlike the trio we got from the Dodgers, he's going to be around for at least a few years.
 
Get to know some of the latest members of the 2019 Baseball Hall of Fame:

* Mariano Rivera
* Roy Halladay
* Edgar Martinez
* Mike Mussina

Mariano Rivera was the first unanimous selection into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America. Some say that controversial players like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, and Curt Schilling should have gotten in. These three didn't get too many votes. You need at least 75% to get inducted. I don't know if they'll ever get in. Then too, Pete Rose probably has a better chance of getting into the Baseball Hall of Fame than those three guys.


But again... congratulations to this year's Baseball Hall of Fame inductees.
 
Spare some thoughts in loving memory of baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson. He died today at the age of 83 after battling a long illness. He is the only person who have been league MVP in both the American and National Leagues. He played for teams such as the Cincinnati Reds, the Baltimore Orioles, and the San Francisco Giants among others. To learn more about Frank Robinson, here is an article on Yahoo! Sports: http://sports.yahoo.com/frank-robinson-hall-famer-mlbs-first-black-manager-dies-83-192855868.html

My condolences go out to Frank Robinson and all whom have known and loved him.
 
Sad day as a Reds' fan. I never got to see Robinson play considering I was born in the 80's, but my dad was a huge fan of his. Trading him to the Orioles was probably the biggest mistake the Reds ever made in the history of their franchise. He only went on to win the Triple Crown...
 
Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia says 2019 will be his final season, as he'll retire at the end of the season. Sabathia is beast. I'm sure the Yanks will still have a solid pitching rotation with or without Sabathia. He won the AL Cy Young in 2007 and is a six-time All-Star. This season will be Sabathia's 19th season of Major League Baseball.

Meanwhile... did you know Spring Training is underway? Yeah. Time to loosen up those pitching arms and swinging those bats. Most of the Spring Training games isn't until about some time later this month.
 
Machado to San Diego (seriously?) for 10 years at $300 million.
Well, they did sign Hosmer last season for 7 and 144. The issue was that Hosmer isn't worth that much (Royals 1B don't have an amazing track record when they leave KC). Does this make them better? Yes. Does this make them better than half of the NL? No, Colorado, Los Angeles and arguably Arizona are still better than they are. On top of that, I see at least 3 teams in the NL Central and NL East (Washington, Philadelphia, New York or Atlanta - one will be worse) better than them. So they literally just moved 2 spots up as presently constituted. They need 1 or 2 SP as they are laughably weak there. They have the #1 farm system and teams will want their chips if they want guys like MadBum, Kluber, deGrom or Thor. Or they can go sign Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez.
 
Usually, the NL West is the most competitive. It's usually where almost any of the five teams can win. As you could tell from the end of the regular season, San Diego finished dead last in the NL West. Maybe Manny Machado can help lift the Padres from the NL West doldrums. We'll see how it goes. Machado still has plenty of playing ability and could play for almost any team. So it isn't like he's some washed-up has been.
 
I meant to mention that today was the first of some Spring Training baseball. However, the game between the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics was cancelled.

Tomorrow, there are some more Spring Training games to come. Tomorrow's games:

* PHI Phillies vs. TB Rays
* OAK Athletics vs. SEA Mariners

So all of us will be getting our first look at some of the new talent.
 
If Harper could just go ahead and sign somewhere, that would be great. Sick of hearing about it.
Also, the media need to stop asking about Vlad Jr. Everyone knows what is happening and why.
 
Today is the first Spring Training action I've seen with the Houston Astros for 2019. I am not as confident about this season's Astros, but I do like them enough for them to make a better run than their ill-fated 2018 postseason run. Opening Day for the Houston Astros this season will be March 28 at the Tampa Bay Rays.

Astros, meanwhile, lost their Spring Training game 14-8 (or something) to the Washington Nationals. When I saw the game in the 7th Inning, Washington was up 14-2. Again- it is just Spring Training. More important is to get everybody going while also keeping everyone healthy.
 
Bryce Harper has agreed to a historic contract with the Philadelphia Phillies. The 26 year old OF has signed for a $330 million, 13 year contract with Average Annual Value of $25.38 million. This ties the longest deal ever given (Giancarlo Stanton, 2014 by the Marlins). The contract does not have an opt-out and Harper has been given a full no trade clause.
 
That sounds like a terrible deal for the Phillies.
It COULD be a good deal if they win 1 World Series (winning tends to make swallowing easier - see Alex Rodriguez). However, this likely takes them out of the running for Mike Trout in the 2020 offseason. Trout would be a better signing and story, as he hails from about 30 minutes from downtown Philadelphia.
 
Nothing can be more damaging than a star player of one team play for another division team. Going from the Washington Nationals to the Philadelphia Phillies means the Nats are going to get multiple servings of Bryce Harper playing in the NL East. Yum.

My Houston Astros are taking on a bunch of NL teams at present for Spring Training. The latest of which are the Miami Marlins, and we defeated the Marlins 7-5 today.
 
I've seen the new Miami Marlins' new outfits and logos when I saw the Astros take on the Marlins. I must say... I like the new Miami Marlins' logo and uniforms. Though I do tend to most favor the old teal and black Florida Marlins colors. I like the new look apart from the previous logo and outfit, as our Omnis once called the "Miami Orioles."
 
The New York Yankees will name Masahiro Tanaka as their Opening Day starter.

Meanwhile, my Houston Astros were down 3-0 in the 3rd Inning against the St. Louis Cardinals. They ended up beating their former NL Central foes 9-3. Of course... this is all Spring Training. So these games don't mean anything.
 
I found out the Houston Astros let go of pitcher Tony Sipp. He is now with the Washington Nationals. I liked Tony Sipp. He was very serviceable as a relief pitcher for the Astros. He was also a very good relief pitcher. So perhaps this will help out the pitching rotation for the Nationals.
 
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